more BIG bass

[A Norfolk Boy]

In my local paper, one angler with picture of 14lb bass from Cromer Pier plus he had another of 10lb from a beach in the same week. Both eaten of course. Doubtless, there would have been other anglers with similar fish.

 

At the same spot they have been netting them and commercial boat fishermen have been targetting them with lures.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

In my local paper, one angler with picture of 14lb bass from Cromer Pier plus he had another of 10lb from a beach in the same week. Both eaten of course. Doubtless, there would have been other anglers with similar fish.

 

At the same spot they have been netting them and commercial boat fishermen have been targetting them with lures.

 

Well I guess that shoal has been wiped out then bar the odd one

 

This is a good case for the Golden Mile.

[essexbuoy]

Well I guess that shoal has been wiped out then bar the odd one

 

This is a good case for the Golden Mile.

 

I agree, waht a waste of good breeding stock

[A Norfolk Boy]

and in case you didn't read the thread 'do or die',

 

from another forum: '.........in the past 2 weeks ive had 2 doubles, 5 between 9 & 10lb an 8 a 7 a 6 and a 5 and about 50 mackerel, have also seen plenty of other big fish between 6 and 12lb.......'

[Scotty T]

and in case you didn't read the thread 'do or die',

 

from another forum: '.........in the past 2 weeks ive had 2 doubles, 5 between 9 & 10lb an 8 a 7 a 6 and a 5 and about 50 mackerel, have also seen plenty of other big fish between 6 and 12lb.......'

 

Whats your point NB, were all these fish kept or released?

 

Scott

[A Norfolk Boy]

Kept no doubt.

 

There is a conservation message to get across, but how can this be communicated if anglers are not here to read it as they have been frightened off by being made to feel bad because they kept a fish? Surely alot of this is about conversion and changing habits? Or is it best to beat people with a stick to get them to change? You've got to engage with the audience, no point in talking to an empty hall.

 

When people read that at the same spot 40 of these big fish are taken in a net in a day, can people not see that it seems ridiculous that fishermen are lambasted for taking one, perhaps the only one they may ever catch?

 

I but can't help feel that this is a long game.

[Scotty T]

Kept no doubt.

 

There is a conservation message to get across, but how can this be communicated if anglers are not here to read it as they have been frightened off by being made to feel bad because they kept a fish? Surely alot of this is about conversion and changing habits? Or is it best to beat people with a stick to get them to change? You've got to engage with the audience, no point in talking to an empty hall.

 

When people read that at the same spot 40 of these big fish are taken in a net in a day, can people not see that it seems ridiculous that fishermen are lambasted for taking one, perhaps the only one they may ever catch?

 

I but can't help feel that this is a long game.

 

Totally agree mate, think your line about 'conservation & changing habits' sums it up. Things have moved on with regards to conservation, but unfortunatly many people havn't kept up or chose to ignor the fact which is a real shame.

 

Scott

[Norm B]

Well I guess that shoal has been wiped out then bar the odd one

 

This is a good case for the Golden Mile.

We should adopt MAXIMUM size limits as they do in the states. Once a fish reaches a set size it is illegal to keep it. This then creates a breeding stock of superior breeding fish which produce large amounts of eggs. Simple idea but very effective. As to anglers keeping large bass, it's legal and if there is no restriction on netting etc there's every chance it will end up in a net the next day, so why put it back to line a commercials pocket, not my statement but one I hear quite often.

[Steve Coppolo]

So that little agreement between the commercials didn't last long then Norfolk Boy? Mind you, the anglers are doing a good enough job of wiping that little lot out on their own by the sound of it.

 

That little local population of bass have been visiting that pier since they were schoolies, in other words, they have been there many years. Once they were discovered it was the beginning of the end for them. It's like that song 10 green bottles, the shoal is now being decreased with every fish that is taken from it. Those fish won't be replaced by other large bass. The only way there will ever be shoals of big bass around Cromer pier again is if the next lot of schoolies are allowed to grow for the same number of years as this lot did. That isn't going to happen though because some people can't see past next week, never mind next year or the year after.

 

If people had released those big bass and just kept a few schoolies to eat now and then, Cromer pier could have become known as a place where anglers could go and have a really good chance of catching a double figure bass. A priceless fish of a lifetime. Think how much money those fish could have generated over the years, and how much enjoyment they could have provided.

 

Instead Cromer pier will now be known as just another place where a population of big bass was discovered and hammered into the ground within a few years.

Edited October 11, 2006 by Steve Coppolo

[Guest muttley]

Kept no doubt.

 

There is a conservation message to get across, but how can this be communicated if anglers are not here to read it as they have been frightened off by being made to feel bad because they kept a fish? Surely alot of this is about conversion and changing habits? Or is it best to beat people with a stick to get them to change? You've got to engage with the audience, no point in talking to an empty hall.

 

When people read that at the same spot 40 of these big fish are taken in a net in a day, can people not see that it seems ridiculous that fishermen are lambasted for taking one, perhaps the only one they may ever catch?

 

I but can't help feel that this is a long game.

wind up merchant